Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Leaving workers with no choice but to submit to contractual work arrangements or face losing their jobs is ‘hostage-taking’ in another form, according to an anti-labor contractualization alliance.

Taking the case of Philippine Airlines (PAL) as an example, members of the Koalisyon Laban sa Kontraktwalisasyon or Kontra who staged another picket at the PAL office in Pasay City this morning, continue to express their outrage over the plan of the flag-carrier to outsource or contract out its core functions to third party service providers, leaving the jobs of thousands of its regular employees in peril.

“In this particular case, it is not a dismissed worker holding his hostages at gunpoint and demanding reinstatement, but Lucio Tan, his boss, leaving him with no choice but to accept a bad deal – a termination paper or a new contractual job,” said Kontra in a statement.

Also presiding over the negotiations on the company’s planned outsourcing and contractualization scheme is the government through the Department of Labor and Employment.

Some 2,600 of PAL’s regular ground personnel are to be laid off and rehired as contractuals once labor secretary Rosalinda Baldos sustains the ruling of her predecessor who, in a midnight decision, recognized PAL’s position that outsourcing the airline’s core functions is a valid exercise of management prerogative.

In addition, life ends at 40 for hundreds of female flight attendants who are being forced by the company to retire when they celebrate their 40th birthday. The plan is patently illegal and discriminatory.

Applied by many firms nationwide, contractualization and other flexible work arrangements, according to Kontra, is in some way similar to a hostage drama though in a reverse form as it is the workers who are being held against their will by their bosses.

Partido ng Manggagawa chair Renato Magtubo, on the other hand, said the prospect of losing their jobs or their security of tenure is definitely a life-threatening situation for ordinary workers whose existence is solely dependent on their existing jobs.

Last week’s hostage drama that ended in unnecessary bloodshed because of bungled police operations caused a major setback and diplomatic blunder for a newly-installed Aquino administration.

“We hope the government does not commit a similar blunder in handling the PAL case,” stated Magtubo as he and other Kontra leaders led the demonstration outside PAL offices at the PNB Financial Center in Pasay City, demanding a stop to the airline and other companies’ contractualization policy.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Congress must make concrete the government’s declaration that democracy should work for all by drafting and legislating a set of pro-labor, pro-poor, pro-women and pro-people reforms.

First, reform the wage-fixing mechanism since the yawning disparity between the minimum wage and the cost of living is the clearest expression of a system failure. The national floor wage proposed by the National Wages and Productivity Board (NWPC) should be based on the cost of living of a working class family and indexed to inflation. The industry-based productivity schemes recommended by the NWPC should be drafted through industry-wide bargaining agreements. A National Wage Commission should replace the regional wage boards. The Wage Commission will have the mandate to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living instead of the present contradictory 10-point formula. The Wage Commission should equalize the floor wage to the level of the cost of living by a host of mechanisms among which are direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers.

Second, establish a rudimentary unemployment insurance scheme for newly retrenched workers. The government must subsidize all workers who will be retrenched because of the global crisis. The Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Authority (OWWA) must use its funds to subsidize private sector workers, government employees and overseas contract workers respectively until they can find work up to a maximum of six months.

Third, improve the present public employment program. It is imperative to give jobs to the millions who are unemployed or underemployed. The emergency employment program must be reformed. Patronage politics must be exorcised from it by putting the employment program under the co-ownership if not control of people’s organizations. Minimum labor standards must be guaranteed instead of the present setup where the ‘kamineros,’ ‘oysters’ even nurses are hired on a contractual basis for below minimum wages. No matter that it is a dirty job as long as it is decent work. The public employment program should not be limited to street cleaning and whitewashing walls but must include restoring the environment and building housing for the poor aside from the usual public works projects. Given the sorry state of the environment and the backlog in public housing, just these two sectors are significant enough to provide millions of jobs for a start.

Fourth, extend health insurance thru PhilHealth to displaced workers, either domestic or abroad, for at least six months or until they can find a new job. This need is validated by research on displaced workers that show a substantial number fall victim to serious illnesses given that the stress of joblessness aggravate their health condition. The state must shoulder the expense of extending their PhilHealth coverage after their retrenchment.

Fifth, declare a three-year moratorium on demolitions and evictions, and a condonation of penalties and interests on low-cost and socialized homeowners. Violent demolitions should stop. The moratorium is not meant to block the implementation of government projects and private development. A moratorium on demolitions will however ensure that honest-to-goodness negotiations proceed based on the provision of decent relocation agreed upon by the affected communities. Social progress should be founded upon social justice.

Sixth, promote job security and regulate contractualization schemes by drafting a law that will put a cap on the number of contractual workers compared to the regular employees in an establishment. Contractual workers should not go beyond 20% of work force of an enterprise.

Seventh, enact the reproductive health bill that will guarantee the provision of public health services to women workers and poor.

And lastly, ratify the freedom of information act in the interest of accountability and transparency in government.

The intended mass dismissal of more than two 2,600 rank-and-file employees of Philippine Airlines, Inc., who are members and officers of Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), is in violation of the law and the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) of PAL and PALEA.

In August 2009, during the period for the negotiation of a new CBA between PAL and PALEA, PAL announced its intention to close several departments of the company (In-Flight Catering operations, Airport Services operations and Call Center Reservation operations) and “outsource” its functions to various service providers. The intended closure and “outsourcing” would affect around 70% of PALEA’s membership and the total number of rank-and-file employees, 62% of the union leadership, and around 35% of the total employee complement of PAL.

PALEA maintains that the mass retrenchment is invalid and constitutive of unfair labor practice:

1.) It violates the law and the parties’ CBA.

1.a) The termination of thousands of its regular employees is not necessitated by the company’s financial situation.

1.b) PAL violated the CBA provision against labor contracting.

1.c) PAL violated the CBA provision on Job Security.

2.) It violates Article 248 of the Labor Code, and Department Order No. 18-02.

2.a) Despite PAL’s insistence, what it planned to do was not a “spin-off” but an “outsourcing,” which is equivalent to contracting-out of services.

There is no spin-off of company departments in this case. No subsidiary corporation was formed by PAL, and not one of its divisions was transformed into an independent company. What is involved here is contracting out of functions wherein regular rank-and-file employees and union members will be terminated and the functions that they are performing will be farmed out to service providers. Worse, the terminated regular employees themselves are envisioned to be the employees of the service providers, i.e. upon their termination, they will just be transferred to a different employer but will be performing the same tasks that they had been performing as regular employees of PAL.

“Section 4. The Company undertakes not to contract out existing positions, jobs, divisions, and departments presently occupied by present or future regular employees within the collective bargaining unit.”

There are no sufficient bases for retrenchment. Retrenchment is a measure of last resort which should only be undertaken in case of serious and imminent losses. A close review of the financial statements and disclosures of PAL reveals that its business condition is improving and not deteriorating, thereby negating the necessity for retrenchment.

The mass termination of employees constitutes unfair labor practices. It will dissipate union membership and will exclude from the coverage of the bargaining unit the positions that are now held by union members. This will result to the abolition of PALEA. This grim scenario is made even worse when the timing for implementing the retrenchment program is considered. The contracting out of the various departments and the consequent retrenchment of union members are being undertaken at a time when a new CBA between the parties is about to be negotiated. It should not be amiss to state that the CBA negotiation is being proposed by PALEA after more than a decade of suspension of the CBA between the parties. It is aimed at defeating the negotiation of a new CBA.

Job security is also the demand of the PAL pilots and flight crew. Thus PAL management is faced with a three-front war with its airline pilots, flight crew and ground personnel because of its drive to demolish job security, replace regular employees with contractual workers and bust the remaining unions in the company.

The public should know the truth. PAL keeps on repeating the lie that it is losing money and so the workers will have to be the burden of its rehabilitation. Of course PAL will be in the red because the sources of revenues, even its assets, have been transferred to sister companies like MacroAsia and Air Philippines. PAL’s maintenance and engineering department was shifted to MacroAsia and so expenses are charged to the former but the income is reflected in the latter. PAL ground personnel in the outlying stations services Air Philippines so the costs are borne by the former but latter keeps the savings.

Contractualization at PAL is just the tip of the iceberg. In factories, shops, offices and malls contractual workers are working side-by-side with regular employees in doing the same job for lesser pay and worse working conditions. We demand that Congress institute reforms to enhance job security and stop contractualization schemes. PALEA calls for a stop to the race to the bottom in working conditions and labor standards. Ang kontraktwalisasyon ay baluktot na landas.

In the conciliation meeting between PAL and PALEA last Thursday, management moved for the Labor Secretary to decide on the legality of the planned layoff. On the other hand PALEA is asking that mediation continue until an agreement acceptable to both sides is forged.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The scourge of labor contractualization lies at the root of the labor dispute at Philippine Airlines. The contracting out of jobs of the ground personnel will lead to the massive layoff of some 3,000 PAL employees. Regular employees will be retired from PAL only to be rehired as contractual workers in companies owned by Lucio Tan’s Kamag-anak Inc. These companies will be money-earning service providers to PAL and so we end up doing the same work as before but for cheaper pay, less benefits and no security of tenure.

Job security is also the demand of the PAL pilots and flight crew. Thus PAL management is faced with a three-front war with its airline pilots, flight crew and ground personnel because of its drive to demolish job security, replace regular employees with contractual workers and bust the remaining unions in the company.

The public should know the truth. PAL keeps on repeating the lie that it is losing money and so the workers will have to be the burden of its rehabilitation. Of course PAL will be in the red because the sources of revenues, even its assets, have been transferred to sister companies like MacroAsia and Air Philippines. PAL’s maintenance and engineering department was shifted to MacroAsia and so expenses are charged to the former but the income is reflected in the latter. PAL ground personnel in the outlying stations services Air Philippines so the costs are borne by the former but latter keeps the savings.

The Department of Labor and Employment has assumed jurisdiction (AJ) of the PAL labor dispute and this has enjoined PALEA from proceeding with a strike. The AJ should also stop management from making any actions that will exacerbate the dispute. However in violation of the AJ, PAL is shifting work from its in house call reservations center to an outside contractor. Reservations calls are being rerouted to ePLDT Ventus while dropped calls are answered by PAL’s call center department. Thus regular jobs are being transferred to an outside contractor and only excess work is maintained in PAL.

Contractualization at PAL is just the tip of the iceberg. In factories, shops, offices and malls contractual workers are working side-by-side with regular employees in doing the same job for lesser pay and worse working conditions. We demand that President Aquino make concrete his promise that democracy should work for all by instituting reforms to enhance job security and stop contractualization schemes. We call for a stop to the race to the bottom in working conditions and labor standards. Ang kontraktwalisasyon ay baluktot na landas.

In the conciliation meeting between PAL and PALEA last Thursday, management moved for the Labor Secretary to decide on the legality of the planned layoff. On the other hand PALEA is asking that mediation continue until an agreement acceptable to both sides is forged.

But even as we negotiate in good faith we have to be prepared for all eventualities including the necessity of a strike if the planned layoff pushes through. Thus we are appealing for support and understanding from fellow workers, institutions such as the Church and the broad public. Our job is our life and if necessary we will strike to defend our livelihood for the sake of our families.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

The Partido ng Manggagawa once more expresses its solidarity with the fight of the Filipino Educators Federation for labor justice and migrant rights. Your struggle inspires not just kababayans abroad and labor groups in the US but also workers in the homefront. News of your sacrifices and the victories you have achieved has reached the Philippine shores since the initial efforts and up to the latest filing of a class suit.

The class suit is a new front of battle so to speak. Again it will test the unity and resolve of the Filipino migrant teachers. Despite the gains you have achieved, supporters of the illegal recruiter Lulu Navarro will not weaken but grow even more desperate in sabotaging and resisting your endeavors.

But we have confidence in your strength and unity. Over the course of two years of struggle, you have proven yourselves worthy. We hope you the best in the class suit. Rest assured that not just your families back home but the workers movement in Philippines supports your fight.

Isa para sa lahat. Lahat para sa isa. That is the essence of bayanihan. That spirit of bayanihan that has guided your fight and eluded previous efforts at organizing Filipinos in the US will see you through thick and thin.

That same spirit of bayanihan animates the reviving struggles of the labor movement in the Philippines such as the export zones workers who have been ravaged by the effects of the global crisis and the Philippine Airline employees who are resisting the attempt of the second richest Filipino to turn them into contractuals who have less pay, no benefits and no security of tenure.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), the ground crew union at Philippine Airlines (PAL), met management in a mediation meeting this afternoon at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) but announced that it is prepared to do everything to stop the disputed contracting out of jobs. “Our job is our life and if necessary we will strike to defend our livelihood for the sake of our families,” declared Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) vice chairperson.

PALEA’s readiness to strike intensifies the labor row at PAL with none of the resigned pilots returning and the flight attendants union threatening to stop work unless the deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations is resolved. PAL’s ongoing labor dispute with its ground crew arose out of the planned contracting out of jobs that will lead to the layoff of some 3,000 employees. Workers in airport services, inflight catering and ticketing reservations will be retrenched and then rehired as contractuals in service providers also owned by Lucio Tan to do the same job for less pay and no job security.

“PAL is faced with a three-front war with its airline pilots, flight crew and ground personnel because of its drive to demolish job security, replace regular employees with contractual workers and bust the remaining unions in the company. We are asking the government of P-Noy through Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to review the policy on contractualization and strengthen protection for job security or else it faces a wave of labor unrest,” explained Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

PM members joined PALEA and other labor groups in a picket today to ask the DOLE to tighten regulations and plug loopholes that have allowed employers to massively supplant regular work with contractual labor. “In factories, shops and offices contractual workers are working side-by-side with regular employees in doing the same job for less pay, no benefits and without security off tenure. Contractualization at PAL is simply the tip of the iceberg. We demand that President Aquino make concrete his promise that democracy should work for all by instituting reforms to enhance job security and stop contractualization schemes,” argued Magtubo.

The mediation meeting today arose out of PALEA’s pending motion for reconsideration of the former Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman’s “midnight decision” that affirmed PAL management’s prerogative to contract out jobs of ground crew. “We welcome the preference of Secretary Baldoz to mediate the dispute on job contracting in PAL unlike Lagman who unilaterally issued a midnight decision favoring management. But even as we negotiate in good faith we have to be prepared for all eventualities including the necessity to strike if the planned layoff pushes through,” Rivera stated.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Filipino migrant teachers in Louisiana today (August 5, US Central Time) filed a class lawsuit against Universal Placement International (UPI) and its Philippine based partner, PARS International for various offenses ranging from racketeering, human trafficking, extortion and mail and wire fraud.

Hundreds of Filipino migrant teachers who are working under H1-B visa and are deployed in several school districts in Louisiana are represented in the class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs are spearheaded by the Filipino Educators Federation (FEF) of Louisiana, a group formed to organize the victims of the recruitment agencies and pursue efforts against these same agencies.

Also named as respondents in the complaint are Lourdes “Lulu” Navarro and Hothello “Jack” Navarro of UPI, Emilio Villarba of PARS International; UPI’s law firm Silverman and Associates and lawyer Robert Silverman; and the East Baton Rouge School District and three of its former and one current officers.

The lawsuit arouse from the illegal and highly exorbitant amount that were charged to the Filipino teachers. The recruitment agencies were never transparent and always seemed to come up with additional payments. When teachers attempt to complain or question the policies of the agency they were threatened to be sued or fired or deported back to the Philippines. Aside from the illegal charges, the teachers were intimidated to sign lopsided contracts.

During a press conference held to announce the filing of the suit, a press statement was read by Ingrid Jomento-Cruz, FEF President. “We never imagined that an oppressive racketeering trap was laid before us. Universal Placement International or UPI and its Philippine-based conduit, PARS International, created a non-transparent scheme that starts with earning your trust, then proceeds with a series of payment collection laced with subtle intimidation and then followed through with fraud, coercion and open extortion. We were herded onto a path, a slowly constricting path, where the moment you realize that something is not right, you were already way past the point of no return.”

“This oppressive scheme of UPI and PARS wouldn’t have been totally successful without the knowledge, tolerance and support from individuals who acted on behalf of the School System. We cannot deny the fact that they cooperated with the recruiters or failed to object to actions that they knew were highly questionable if not downright illegal.”

While the East Baton Rouge School District was named as one of the respondents, Jomento-Cruz underscored that they have no animosity against their current employer. “We would like to make it clear that we harbor no ill will towards the Louisiana School System… The new superintendent has paid attention to our concerns and has closely monitored the problems we have encountered…Let me also use this opportunity to declare once again that we continue to have a strong commitment to our students, and will continue to serve the district for we believe that the actions by some individuals within the EBR School District do not represent the values of the institution and the people of Louisiana.”

“The exploitation of migrant workers is an ongoing and a growing problem here in the US. This lawsuit is again another arena of battle to expose these entities that are out to exploit migrant labor. PM joins the call for stronger legislation that will ensure the protection of the rights of migrant labor,” said Ian Seruelo, US Liaison officer of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM Labor Party).

According to the FEF statement, the objective of the legal action “is to ensure that these exploitative practices end now. We do not want this to happen to any other teachers who come here from the Philippines or anywhere else. And we can not stop these oppressive schemes unless everyone involved understand that they cannot simply look the other way when they encounter abusive practices by recruiters.”

Representing the Filipino teachers is a legal team assembled by the Southern Poverty Law Center and American Federation of Teachers (AFT). AFT and Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) have been instrumental in the struggle of the Filipino teachers. In the Philippines, PM and the PSLINK labor confederation are assisting the teachers’ efforts.

Two to three years ago, we made a big sacrifice. We decided to leave our country and start a new life as teachers in a foreign land. At first, we were hesitant to leave our families, our children and our friends; our very own community and the pupils whom we have served and learned to love.

However, the aspiration of securing a better future for our families made our decision easier. We all believe that America is a land full of promise – a promise of opportunity for ourselves and stable future for our families.

So we started our journey, sacrificed all to raise the needed resources, borrowed money from lending agencies, put ourselves deep in debt, selling our properties, resigned from our respective jobs, practically putting in line the very future of our children, of our families.

We never imagined that an oppressive racketeering trap was laid before us. Universal Placement International or UPI and its Philippine-based conduit, PARS International, created a non-transparent scheme that starts with earning your trust, then proceeds with a series of payment collection laced with subtle intimidation and then followed through with fraud, coercion and open extortion. We were herded onto a path, a slowly constricting path, where the moment you realize that something is not right, you were already way past the point of no return.

Of course, this oppressive scheme of UPI and PARS wouldn’t have been totally successful without the knowledge, tolerance and support from individuals who acted on behalf of the School System. We cannot deny the fact that they cooperated with the recruiters or failed to object to actions that they knew were highly questionable if not downright illegal. This is tantamount to aiding and abetting the illegal and oppressive operation of the recruitment agency.

We, members of the Filipino Educators Federation of Louisiana, would like to make it clear that we harbor no ill will towards the Louisiana School System. We want to emphasize that we love this community and we now consider Louisiana as our home. We think of our students as our own kids. The new superintendent has paid attention to our concerns and has closely monitored the problems we have encountered. And we have had tremendous support from the East Baton Rouge community. We will continue to give our 100 percent to our teaching vocation as we strive to push our students for a brighter future. Let me also use this opportunity to declare once again that we continue to have a strong commitment to our students, and will continue to serve the district for we believe that the actions by some individuals within the EBR School District do not represent the values of the institution and the people of Louisiana.

Now, we are here before you to make public our filing of a class action lawsuit against these abusive recruitment agencies and against all others who are responsible in perpetrating these serious violations against human dignity.

This is going to be a long battle but we are steadfast in our resolve to correct the wrongs that were committed. We are here to assert that there is no room for these oppressive and exploitative schemes in a civilized society. The goal of our lawsuit is to ensure that these exploitative practices end now. We do not want this to happen to any other teachers who come here from the Philippines or anywhere else. And we can not stop these oppressive schemes unless everyone involved understand that they cannot simply look the other way when they encounter abusive practices by recruiters.

We have learned a lot from these experiences, from these struggles. And we are very fortunate to have the support of the American Federation of Teachers, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, the East Baton Rouge Parish Federation of Teachers, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the law firm Covington and Burling, and the Filipino community here in Louisiana; as well as Philippine-based groups that work with us, the PSLINK labor confederation and the Philippine labor party. We owe a great deal to all of them for they have given us the courage and support to stand up for our rights and have magnified our voice when nobody listened.

Now as we continue to embark on our enduring journey, we call on our colleagues in the Louisiana School System and to the public to support our cause as this is not just a migrant teachers issue but an issue of public interest, an issue that concerns respect for human rights and an issue that concerns the education of our children.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) agreed with Malacanang’s initial view that the problems besetting the Philippine Airlines (PAL) is more than the pilots’ decision to seek better paying jobs elsewhere.

The group insists that at the heart of the continuing labor disputes in PAL is job security and the regression in labor standards in the flag carrier.

“A regression in labor standards in Asia’s first airline is a scorn to Filipino’s pride that is supposed to be flying high with the flag carrier,” said the group in a statement.

Partido ng Manggagawa chair Renato Magtubo, said the current resignations of PAL pilots, the ground crews’ struggle against spinoff and contractualization and the flight attendants fight for job security, “all speak of deteriorating labor standards at the flag carrier and as such warrant an active intervention if the government intends to correct this rocky labor-management relations in PAL.”

Magtubo, who’s group has been involved with the PAL employees struggle for job security since the 1998 strike believes that the pilots’ mass resignations and the company’s unresolved disputes with the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and the Flight Attendants and Stewardees Association of the Philippines (FASAP) may again lead to a full-blown strike if the company refuses to heed the employees demands and the government fail to carry out proper intervention.

Proper government intervention, according to Magtubo, can be done by invoking not just the ‘national interest’ but also the ‘social justice’ provision of the Constitution declaring a State policy recognizing the primacy of labor over capital.

On Agust 12, PALEA has a scheduled conciliation meeting with the management and the labor department on the planned spinoff of PAL’s ground handling operations to other Tan companies. The plan will result to the mass layoff of some 2,600 ground crew pesonnels as they shift from regular to contractual work arrangements with the spinoff companies.

PALEA describes the plan as a ‘massive contractualization of regular employees’ thus it is seeking the reversal of the ‘midnight decision’ by then acting secretary Romeo Lagman rendering legality for the planned contractualization scheme.

The FASAP is also struggling against the lowering of their retirement age to 40 and several other issues affecting their job security.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) expressed caution on the proposal for a government takeover of Philippine Airlines (PAL) in case the labor row with pilots is unresolved. “The government can exercise eminent domain and police power to takeover PAL if the labor problems are unsettled but that will only sweep the dirt under the rug without actually cleaning the house. Unless the grievances of the airline pilots, flight attendants and ground crew are redressed now then labor unrest will simply simmer and explode later,” argued Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

The labor group instead called on the Aquino government to mediate PAL’s labor dispute with the aim of addressing the workers’ demands. “A better option is for the Aquino government to apply social justice so it can resolve the problem of contractualization that lies at the root of labor unrest at PAL. PAL is not simply competing with Cebu Pacific but they are copying the contractualization scheme that is rampant in its rival,” Magtubo asserted.

Gerry Rivera, PM vice-chairperson and president of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), emphasized that “Contractualization is the cause of deteriorating working conditions at PAL. PAL farmed out its pilots to sister company Air Philippines and thereby effectively demoted them. How can you fault the pilots then for leaving the sweatshop conditions at PAL for the good pay, regular status and better working environment offered abroad?”

Aside from the pilots’ resignation, PAL is faced with an ongoing labor dispute with its ground crew over the planned contracting out of jobs that will lead to the layoff of some 3,000 employees and the threat of a strike by flight attendants over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations. Rivera declared that the ground crew, flight attendants and PAL pilots are now in talks in order to defend job security and working conditions at the country’s biggest domestic and international carrier.

He also announced that PALEA is scheduled to attend a conciliation meeting called by the Department of Labor and Employment on August 12. PALEA has a pending motion for reconsideration of the former Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman’s “midnight decision” that affirmed PAL management’s prerogative to contract out jobs of ground crew to third party companies that employees alleged are also owned by Lucio Tan.

Aside from a reform of the policy on labor contractualization, PM is also calling on the government to lift the six-month prior notice on the migration of workers who are categorized as mission-critical skills for unduly disadvantaging labor.

Monday, August 2, 2010

In the face of the PAL pilots’ issue, the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) asked the Aquino government to lift the six-month prior notice on the migration of workers who are categorized as mission-critical skills. Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson, said that “Banning the migration of skilled workers by six months disadvantages labor and favors capital. There is an opportunity cost on workers which government and employers cannot possibly repay. After the six month ban, there is no assurance that offers still exist for skilled workers who just dream of a better life for their families. If employers want to retain skilled workers in the country then they must match the good pay, regular status and better working conditions offered abroad.”

The labor group also called on both the government and PAL not to punish the 25 pilots who have resigned by filing criminal and administrative charges. “It behooves the Aquino government, even PAL management, to think of the root causes and review policies that discriminate against labor. Both government and PAL face a full-scale war with PAL pilots, flight attendants and ground crew if an iron-fist policy is used on labor,” Magtubo argued.

PAL is faced with an ongoing labor dispute with its ground crew over the planned contracting out of jobs that will lead to the layoff of some 3,000 employees and the threat of a strike by flight attendants over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations. Gerry Rivera, PM vice-chairperson and president of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), revealed that they are working to unite the ground crew, flight attendants and PAL pilots to defend job security and working conditions at the country’s biggest domestic and international carrier.

Rivera explained that “The abrupt resignation by the PAL pilots is rooted in management’s drive to make all of its employees contractual instead of regular. The pilots resigned not simply because they were poached by other airlines with offers of better pay. The pilots were enticed by better working conditions which assure them of security of tenure and good benefits unlike their status as contractuals in PAL.”

PALEA is scheduled to attend a conciliation meeting called by the Labor Department on August 12. “We welcome the preference of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to mediate the dispute on job contracting in PAL unlike the former Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman who unilaterally issued a midnight decision favoring management,” Rivera stated.

He added that “The Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines was busted in 1998 so the pilots’ discontent was expressed in individual resignation instead of collective protest. But their deteriorating working conditions are no different from that experienced by flight attendants and ground crew.”

The militant group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the ground crew union Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) called on the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) not to file cases against the pilots who abruptly resigned. Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and PM vice-chairperson, urged PAL to “Think twice before swinging the Damocles sword on the heads of the pilots lest the company face a three-front war against all of its employees.”

PAL is faced with an ongoing labor dispute with its ground crew over the planned contracting out of jobs that will affect some 3,000 employees and the threat of a strike by flight attendants over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations. Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson challenged the ground crew, flight attendants and airline pilots to unite to defend job security and working conditions at the country’s biggest domestic and international carrier.

Rivera explained that “The pilots resigned not simply because they were poached by other airlines with offers of better pay as PAL’s propaganda releases state. The pilots were enticed by better conditions which assure them of security of tenure and good benefits unlike their status as contractuals in PAL. The impromptu resignation by a dozen PAL pilots is the damaging results of management’s drive to make all of its employees contractual instead of regular.”

“The Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines was busted in 1998 so the pilots’ discontent was expressed in individual resignation instead of collective protest. But their deteriorating working conditions are no different from that experienced by flight attendants and ground crew. All for one, one for all in the fight against labor contractualization and union busting by PAL,” Rivera added.

Meanwhile Magtubo appealed to the Aquino government to review the policy prohibiting the migration of workers classified as mission-critical skills. “Prohibiting the migration of skilled workers by six months is unduly discriminatory on labor and one-sidedly favors capital. After the six month ban, there is no assurance that the offers remain for these skilled workers who just want a better life for their families. If capitalists want to retain skilled workers in the country then they must match the good pay, regular jobs and better working conditions offered abroad.”
PM reiterated its support for the fight of PALEA and the flight attendants. PALEA is scheduled to attend a conciliation meeting called by the Labor Department on August 12. “We welcome the preference of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to mediate the labor dispute unlike the former Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman who unilaterally issued a midnight decision favoring PAL management,” Rivera stated.

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Our Vision

Our dream is a world that gives due importance to the role of the working class and respects the dignity of labor. A social order where the working men and women of the world live together in peace, harmony and progress.Our aspirations lie in the emancipation of labor. A government that is truly of the workers, by the workers and for the workers.

Our hopes rest in a future where social progress thrives not for the benefit of a few people but for the development and richness of the entire humankind. A society that is free from the chains of wage slavery and where oppression does not exist.

Our Mission

Forge the unity of the workers into an independent working class party to organize them as a potent political force in social transformation towards the advancement and protection of labor from the scourge of globalization, establishment of a genuine workers’ government and the emancipation of the working class from capitalist exploitation and wage slavery.

Workers Unite!

The working class is the most important class in society. But, labor will only be a force to reckon with at a time when labor assumes the responsibility of leading the struggle to a decent living - free from exploitation of the propertied elite.

The time has come to rally every underprivileged sector of the society, to take the bull by the head and confront the issues of today. The working class must take an active role in every political exercise presented. The backbone of the independent party must be comprised of the working class with the other marginalized sectors in solidarity.

We must organize politically.

This is our own challenge and we must vow not to shirk from it.

Our future is in our hands, in our unity, in our struggle, in our party.